


Sounds like You

by miss_tatiana



Category: Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
Genre: set during their trip to the attic, this is.... so cheesy but i love their friendship so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 05:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11685087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_tatiana/pseuds/miss_tatiana
Summary: As they make their way up to the attic, Matthias tries to explain the history of the sword to Warbeak. She makes an observation that blows him away.





	Sounds like You

**Author's Note:**

> for redwall fic month! theme: exploration

Matthias sat on the ledge overlooking the great hall. It was a long way to fall, and even with the rope connecting him to Warbeak he didn’t feel completely safe. She  _ had _ tried to shove him over the edge, after all. He looked over at her, standing a bit down the ledge and preening, purposefully ignoring the food he was nibbling at. He cleared his throat. “Would you like some?” His Sparra wasn’t perfect, but he was sure it was good enough to get the message across. 

Warbeak glared at him over her shoulder, but her eyes quickly went to the candied chestnuts and the bottom of the snack bag. “You dirt-fools didn’t give me any food down on the ground. Why now?” Her voice was gruff, much like the shriek of the Sparra warcry. 

“Well, Constance can be a bit rough sometimes,” Matthias explained. Any conversation was a step forwards, and if they were going to explore the attic together and find the sword, he might as well explore the possibility of a new friendship as well. It he could keep her talking at least then she wouldn’t try to kill him again. “We’re in a difficult spot right now. We need the sword- it’s our only hope.”

“Hope of what?”

“Getting rid of Cluny.” Matthias sighed. “It has to be done by someone, and nobody else seems to actually want to do anything. Constance and Jess do, but the Abbott always shoots them down, so it falls to me.”

“You the hero?” Warbeak cocked her head, her bright eyes falling on Mattias.

“No, no-” Mattias laughed a little bit, he could help himself. If people were seeing him as the hero of the abbey, they were in worse trouble than he’d thought. “Definitely not. I’m not even fully grown yet, I- I’m just the one who’s fetching the sword.”

“Who’s gonna use it then?” asked Warbeak, now fixed on the words. “Why get a sword if no one will chop with it? If I had that sword, I’d cut you all up into little bits.” She nodded firmly to herself. 

“That’s gross, Warbeak.” Matthias shook his head, hoping very fervently that she was joking. “I’m not sure who’s going to use it. It was Martin’s… Do you know Martin?”

Warbeak lifted up a foot - the untethered one - and scratched her head. “No.”

“Well, he was a warrior,” Matthias began, setting his chin in his paws and gazing out over the great hall. “The best warrior there ever was. When he was growing up, his sword got stolen. No one thought he could take it back and be a real warrior, but he did, and he was. He was a great strategist, and would always win fights, but he was also kind. That was what made him special, he was sympathetic, even to his enemies. He wanted to help everyone, even misguided beasts. He’s the one on the tapestry.”

Warbeak nodded, as if she understood, but didn’t fully care. “Sounds like you,” she said, her attention going back to the chestnuts. 

“What?” Matthias straightened up, looking over at her. 

“I said, sounds like you,” Warbeak repeated. “You’ll be great warrior, because of the sword, and ‘cause no one else is gonna fight.”

“No, I-”

“And you’re kind.” The ever present anger in Warbeak’s eyes, the anger that had been there ever since they were able to trap her under the basket faded slightly. “You talk to me like a friend. Offer me worm-food.”

Matthias was in shock. He rolled a candied chestnut across the ledge to her and watched her gobble it up viciously. He was frozen, thinking about what she’d said. 

Eventually, when Warbeak had finished her snack, she glared at him. “We gonna find the sword? Look at the sun.” She gestured out the window across the hall with her head. 

She had a point- the reds and purples of a sunset streamed in through the windows. If they wanted to get to the attic before dark they really had to hurry. Matthias shook himself out of his reverie and closed up his pack, lifting it onto his shoulder. He let Warbeak lead the way along the ledge, the trapdoor just barely in sight far ahead of them. 

After a while of walking in silence - not an uncomfortable silence, just silence - Matthias spoke up. “Warbeak, do you really mean that I’m- Martin and me-”

“‘Course I do,” Warbeak said, not looking back at him. “You already wanna find sword, so determined, you fed me and convinced badger I could help, so friend. Can’t wait to see you fight.”

“Fight?”

“Last part of being a warrior. When you fight, it’ll prove me right, ‘cause you’re gonna be great at it.”

“Warbeak, I-” Matthias smiled at her back. “I’ll prove you right, I promise.”


End file.
